A Day in the Retirement of me
A young brown haired girl stopped uncertainly in front of a large brick building. She looked down at a piece of paper in her hands, Anoka County Retirement House, and back up at the sign. Shrugging, she entered the building and walked up to the desk.
"Can I help you?" A young receptionist asked as soon as she approached.
"Yeah, I’m Sonita Falquist," The girl started, "I’m here for the Senior Citizen program for school…"
The woman smiled kindly down at her, "Ah, yes…" She paused, typing some commands on her computer. A moment later, the wanted information displayed on the screen and she turned back to the girl, "You will want to find Ms. Rachel Winters," She told the girl, "Her room number is—" she glanced at the screen again, "234, Green Wing."
Sonita quickly finished scribbling the information down, "Thank you," with a nod from the receptionist she walked off in search for the room.
Sonita knocked quietly on the door in front of her, there was no answer. She frowned, looked back up at the plaque on the door—234: Rachel Winters—certain she had the right room she tried knocking again with the same unsatisfying results.
Sonita turned as she heard someone coming, an old woman was pushing another seated in a wheel chair, and they were slowly approaching her. Sonita waited where she was in case either of the women were Rachel.
They drew near and the woman in the wheel chair glanced meaningfully at Sonita and then at the door she stood in front of. Before Sonita could voice her concern, the woman spoke, "Looking for Rachel, dear?" She asked kindly.
Sonita nodded.
"Well, she’s not in there right now," The woman told her, "I think she’ll be outside, right, Stacey?" She looked up at the woman standing behind her.
The second woman nodded, "She would be right now."
Sonita flashed the elderly women a smile, "Thanks…" She paused, "Where, exactly, would she be outside?"
"We’ll show you." Stacey volunteered.
Together the three of them made their way back down to the first floor and out onto the porch. The woman in the wheel chair strained her neck in a vain attempt to see over the railing. That failing, she swiftly stood—much to the surprise of Sonita—and easily looked across the land.
"There," She told Sonita, pointing to a solitary old woman sitting on a bench by the river, "That’s her."
Sonita smiled again, "Thanks," She started to walk away from them but paused long enough to say: "See you later."
Stacey and the other woman shared a knowing smile as she returned to her chair and Sonita walked off. "You really should have warned her, Katy." Stacey rebuked as she watched Sonita approach the old woman.
Katy shrugged, getting herself comfortable in her chair, "I didn’t see you say anything."
"Rachel Winters?" Sonita asked as she approached the bench.
The old woman didn’t reply, didn’t even look up at her approach actually. Sonita frowned, "Excuse me, are you Rachel Winters?" She asked again. Again there was no answer.
Maybe she’s hard at hearing. "Are you Rachel Winters?" Sonita asked, much louder this time—loud enough, even, to cause several ducks that had been lulling about in the water to flutter off in surprise.
The old woman looked up, a dark expression on her face causing Sonita to stumble back a step in surprise.
"Um… I… I’m Sonita—" The girl started nervously under the woman’s glare.
"You scared away my ducks!" The old woman exclaimed.
"Oh, uh… Sorry about that." Sonita stammered.
"Sorry?" The woman, Rachel, exclaimed, "’Sorry’ won’t bring them back, will it?"
Sonita didn’t reply, she didn’t have time to reply—Rachel was up and off her bench in a second, grabbing her cane which was nearby. The woman raised it threateningly and began to advance on Sonita, "I’ll show you ‘sorry!’"
Sonita, wide eyed, quickly dashed out of harms way, pursued closely by Rachel, and never even noticing two old woman watching from a safe distance and chuckling to themselves.